January 01, 2012

A Swedish woman who lost her wedding ring 16 years ago was shocked to find it attached to a carrot in her vegetable garden.
Lena Påhlsson lost her priceless homemade ring after she set it on the kitchen counter to avoid misplacing it while doing some Christmas baking.
She had already resigned to a life without it when, suddenly, it resurfaced on the taproot of a small carrot she had yanked out of her garden and was about to throw away.
“Our daughter Anna was at home at the time and she heard an almighty scream from the garden,” Lena’s husband Ola told The Local.
Ola and Lena have a few theories as to how the ring ended up straddling a vegetable. ”We thought maybe it had fallen in to the compostable food bin,” Ola said. “Perhaps it ended up in compost that was spread over the vegetable patch later.”

December 17, 2011

A man in China who had been on the run from the law for the past 13 years was hiding in plain sight, disguised as one of the country’s most successful character actors.
Ji Siguang is suspected of participating along with three accomplices in an attack on a policeman in the northern Chinese city of Qiqihar.
Following the incident, Ji changed his name to Zhang Guofeng and entered the entertainment business, quickly racking up an impressive list of on-screen appearances, including on a popular TV show that aired in 2009.
Police caught up with the actor during the filming of a new drama in which he plays a Buddhist monk.

November 30, 2011

The Miami Federal Detention Center is reportedly plagued by women posing as paralegals who instead strip for incarcerated drug lords, according to several people interviewed by the Miami New-Times.
The Riptide blog of the New-Times reports that lawyers representing drug lords help the strippers gain access to the prison by having them pose as “legal assistants.”
From the report:
Among the offenses allegedly committed by so-called paralegals: smuggling in a Playboy, feeding alcohol to an inmate by slipping a straw through a grate, and sneaking in $3,000 inside a purse.
“They take off their tops and let the guys touch them,” said defense attorney Hugo Rodriguez. “The majority of these young, very attractive women are noncitizens brought in exclusively for the purposes of visiting the FDC. Any lawyer can sign a form and designate a legal assistant. There is no way of verifying it. The process is being abused.”